Bob Marley: His Art and Vision Changed the World

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from a commitment to African unity, and, ultimately from a vision of One Love and One World. His use of language, metaphor, rhythm, symbol, and even ritualized action became one of the most influential forces in popular music during the 1970s and early 1980s, not only in Jamaica and the Caribbean, but in Africa, New Zealand, Great Britain, and throughout the Third World. His use of conscious music pertaining to freedom and inequality spread awareness across the world and gave people a voice to stand up for their freedom and fight for equality. Many did because during this period, civil rights was a big issue that needed to change in society.

Many of Bob Marley’s songs spoke about the oppression people faced in Africa. Marley was drastically affected by the poverty and hardship he witnessed in Kingston growing up. Many Rastafarians and Marley blame this on oppression caused by the western world and the white man. As a result, much of Marley’s music and political outlook centered around freedom from oppression. He was a man of vision and was aware of the power of symbolism, so he included many of them in his music. He seemed to intentionally employ symbols of resistance in a variety of ways to communicate his belief that Jah had called him to bring about change on behalf of the suffering people of his native Jamaica; this original commitment eventually became extended to a commitment to liberation for all of the world’s oppressed citizens. With songs like “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Revolution,” Marley urged his countrymen (and any oppressed people) to unite and fight their oppressors. “Get Up, Stand Up” eventually became not only a signature song for its writers, but it went on to endure as an international human rights anthem. This particular song gave people a voice to stand up for themselves and fight oppression. Today, “Get Up, Stand Up” serves as the official anthem of Amnesty International, the first name in human-rights activism. Wherever there are hungry people who need to eat, wherever injustice is being served, the Wailers’ song is always sung. But the fact that it still needs to be performed at all today speaks to the persistence of oppression and human rights violations in all forms throughout the world. In his other song, “Revolution”, he expresses the feeling of being forced to fight in order to create change. He called for mental and physical revolution, wiping out wicked ideas from society. This song emphasizes Marley’s role as a rebel against the status quo.

Bob Marley became a cultural icon, as he encouraged others to rebel against racism, inequality, and oppression in the world. He had the idea that through music, empowerment, and words, you can create world peace. He was a revolutionary. His impact on Jamaican politics was so strong, there was an assassination attempt on his life. His use of ‘conscious music’ made people aware of the type of society that we live in and gave people a voice. For example, he got people to stand up for themselves and never give up on life; to not let people dictate what you can or cannot do and judge you based on the color of your skin. His art influenced so many people and brought them together. His culture and spirituality affected many people to the extent that many even converted to Rastafari. Through Rastafari ideas, he influenced many with songs that touched the lives of millions through his constant message of unity. There is no denial that Bob Marley lived his life for the purpose of peace and freedom for everyone on the planet, inspiring love through his ‘conscious music’. Therein lies the secret to Bob Marley’s success, he was able to make music out of scriptures found in the bible where the message was not lost in translation, just expressed in a different way. This change in medium was necessary because not everyone could read and as descendants of African slaves, the Jamaican community had an affinity to music and could understand the language used by Bob Marley. His mission was to change the mindset of the poor and downtrodden, and lead his people to a better